PITTSBURGH -- The former chief executive for a defense contractor with ties to Reps. Pete Visclosky and John Murtha has been charged with taking about $200,000 in kickbacks from a subcontractor.
Richard Ianieri, of Doylestown, Pa., was charged in a one-count criminal information filed Monday in Pittsburgh. He is accused of accepting two kickbacks of about $100,000 each from a subcontractor -- identified only as "K" -- while he was an officer of Coherent Systems International Corp.
Point of Order here: when the indictment refuses to directly identify the subcontractor, that means the subcontractor is cooperating with the authorities. When the CEO is only charged with a single count of the indictment -- that means he's cooperating too, and has cut a deal already.
Already looking bad for our boy Peter.
Ianieri donated at least $9,200 to Visclosky's campaign and political action committee, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. A spokesman for Visclosky's campaign didn't return calls for comment. Visclosky's offices were subpoenaed in May as part of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the defunct Virginia lobbying firm The PMA Group. The firm was one of the congressman's top campaign donors.
In an April 2006 news release, Murtha announced that Coherent and Kuchera Defense Systems were working "virtually as one company" on 14 contracts worth $30 million to develop high-tech military gear. At the time, both companies had offices in Windber, near Murtha's home base of Johnstown.
Kuchera, which has given ten of thousands of dollars to Murtha's campaign and political action committee, has been under scrutiny in recent months. The company, owned by brothers William and Ronald Kuchera, has received $14.7 million in Murtha earmarks in the past two years. It and another company, Kuchera Industries Inc., have received $53 million in federal contracts in this decade alone.
In January, FBI agents and Pentagon investigators raided Kuchera Defense Systems' offices.
Ianieri was president and chief executive officer of Coherent until it was sold to Fairfax, Va.-based Argon ST in August 2007, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Ianieri was charged via a federal criminal information, which typically indicates that a defendant is cooperating with prosecutors.
Argon's CEO, Terry Collins, said in a statement that the company cannot comment on the criminal allegations because the actions happened before Argon purchased most of the assets of Coherent in August 2007. Though Ianieri continued working for Argon after the acquisition, he left that company in October, Collins said.
In April, the Navy suspended the Kucheras and their companies for "alleged fraud" including multiple instances of incorrect charges, along with allegations of defective pricing and ethical violations. Kuchera is appealing the suspension.
And we wish them the best of luck with that. Really. Although at the rate the tine men are falling around Murtha and Visclosky. you have to wonder which crooked Democrap will turn on the other one first.
Heh. Couldn't happen to nicer guys.
Previous Entries on The Visclosky corruption Scandal:
Cross Posted At Alamo City Pundit
~Johnny~
